Editorial: One in four students who start at a public, 4-year institution do not return to any school the second year

It's August. That means parents and students are buying new backpacks and hefting mini-refrigerators to dorm rooms. Yet the proud moment of starting college is overshadowed by the bills for higher education coming due.

The National Student Clearinghouse, which follows the status of undergraduates at institutions eligible for federal aid, gathers information about the so-called college “persistence" rate. This is the percentage of students who return to college at any institution for their second year.

According to the organization's most recent report, of the 3.5 million students who enrolled in college for the first time in fall 2017, 74% returned to any U.S. school the following fall. That means more than 25% did not.

Let those statistics sink in. One in four.

Nearly 900,000 students went to all the trouble and expense to enroll, borrow money, apply for and receive government grants, purchase books and perhaps even move, but did not return to school the next year. They didn't transfer to another school.

High school students are fed a false ultimatum: college or failure.(Photo: Topp Yimgrimm, Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The millions of Americans who start college but don’t finish may be worse off than those who never attended. Many have student loans to repay but no college degree to secure a higher-paying job. They may have fallen behind their peers in obtaining work experience. Potential employers may perceive them as unable to finish what they start.

The students may perceive themselves as failures. Parents may be embarrassed and disappointed.

Of course this is likely the last thing families want to think about as the first day of school approaches. But this higher education reality is not talked about enough and cannot be ignored.

Also interesting is that while a "gap year" movement has encouraged new high school graduates to wait a year or more to start college, these younger students, aged 20 and under, are more likely to stay in school than students 21 to 24 years old. Also, only one in three black students return to school at any institution their second year.

While colleges have worked to address the academic struggles of traditional-aged students, they may need to focus more on supporting minorities and older students who may also be juggling jobs and children.

Then again, there is only so much schools can do. Staff cannot force adults to go to class. Many young people are not prepared for the academics or the sudden autonomy. All-night video game sessions with a roommate can quickly become more appealing than studying for a test. Why go to class when you can sleep all day without a parent nagging you?

Higher education is heralded as the key to earning a decent living and opening up doors for employment. One of the proudest moments for parents is the day their child starts college, and they frequently take out loans to cover the cost because they believe college is an investment in the future.

And it can be — if a student earns a degree. If not, there is only debt to repay.

Tuition is only part of the expense of college

Several Democratic candidates for president have advocated free, tuition-free or debt-free college. These politicians certainly have the best of intentions, particularly when too many young people start their lives awash in student loan debt.

Bernie Sanders has pushed eliminating undergraduate tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities. His plan would provide $47 billion annually and cover 67% of the cost. States would be responsible for the remaining 33%.

Let the eye-rolling begin in Iowa. Lawmakers in this state have refused to provide adequate state aid to help hold down the cost of tuition for families. They sure as heck aren’t likely to cough up the money to wipe out the entire cost, even if the state had the bucks.

And the idea of free tuition for future students may not sit well with families who saved and borrowed to cover the cost of higher education.

Also, tuition is only part of the cost of college.

In the 2019-20 school year, an undergraduate resident student at Iowa State University is facing a $9,320 bill for tuition. But when you add room and board, books, fees and personal expenses, the total cost of attendance is $21,940. At the University of Iowa, tuition accounts for $9,830 of the nearly $25,000 cost of attendance annually.